Critical Essay by Richard Lehan

SOURCE: Lehan, Richard. “The Importance of the Work.” In The Great Gatsby: The Limits of Wonder, pp. 11-15. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990.

In the following essay, Lehan discusses the reasons why The Great Gatsby is still considered a literary classic.

Any attempt to pinpoint the importance of a work involves a slightly circular argument. The criteria that one brings to the work establish its sense of importance, and the claim for importance then justifies the criteria. Such a necessary circularity need not, however, diminish the more obvious contexts used in establishing the worth of a literary text. Complexity and artistry, vision and technique are the values usually brought to the evaluative process. But even within these terms critics find room for disagreement. What is narratively complex and artistically accomplished to one may seem simplistic and awkward to...